Town Mountain Announces New Label, New Album, New Member
Boy is there some Town Mountain news, and lots of it. The Asheville, NC-based outfit has been like the house band for the country music revolution for the last 10 years or so, paling around with Tyler Childers and Billy Strings among others, playing many of the cool independent festivals throughout the Appalachian region and beyond, and bringing their fun but reverberative attitude to their mix of music that includes country, bluegrass, and mountain folk. They’re a fan favorite to say the least by keeping it humble and true, and their fandom is about to get bigger.
As Sturgill Simpson continues to be on hiatus after suffering from a vocal cord rupture, his drummer and bandleader Miles Miller has officially joined Town Mountain as a full time member. He joins Phil Barker, Bobby Britt, Robert Greer, Jesse Langlais, and Zach Smith as the principals of Town Mountain. And that’s not all. It’s just been announced that the outfit is steeping up in the world by signing with New West Records.
“New West came to some of our shows and the ball started rolling,” says Banjoist Jess Langlais. “They knew they wanted to work with us, and we knew we wanted to work with them. New West lets the artist steer the ship and that’s what we were looking for—to have the autonomy to do what we want, but to also have a great label behind us.”
Town Mountain will be releasing their New West debut album Lines in the Levee on October 7th, 2022, with guitarist Robert Greer saying, “This is the sound we’ve been working towards since the inception of the band. It isn’t a departure, it’s an evolution—the gate is wide open right now.”
Ahead of the new album, the band has released the title track, which will give you a lot of vibes of The Band. “Lyrically, I wanted the song to communicate that a change is coming for those who don’t have a voice or feel disenfranchised. Musically, I wanted the rhythm to have a similar intensity and make you feel like something is about to happen,” says Phil Barker.
Town Mountain is one of those bands whose camaraderie you feel coming directly through the music. It’s cool to finally see them take a step out of the shadows of some of their famous friends they’ve collaborated with over the years, and finally receive their due.
Lines in the Levee is now available for pre-order.
TRACK LIST:
1. Lines in the Levee
2. Comeback Kid
3. Distant Line
4. Firebound Road
5. Rene
6. Seasons Don’t Change
7. Daydream Quarantina
8. Big Decisions
9. Unsung Heroes
10. American Family
11. Lean Into the Blue
July 1, 2022 @ 7:52 am
Seen Miles play with Town Mountain several times around KY. Does a great job with them
July 1, 2022 @ 8:02 am
Great news. I love this band!
July 1, 2022 @ 8:18 am
Great band. When OCMS and similar bands got big, never understood why these guys didn’t. I think they are tops.
July 4, 2022 @ 9:58 am
Have been a fan of Town Mountain for just a short while. These guys are great musicians, singers and song writers. Peace!
July 1, 2022 @ 8:26 am
Anybody who can’t hear the influence of The Band in this song is deaf! Miles even looks like Levon during this clip. Great tune and love the grainy quality of the video. Fantastic! Thanks Trig.
July 1, 2022 @ 12:47 pm
That’s what I was thinking too. Lead vocal, harmonies, beat.
The Shape I’m In comes to mind.
July 1, 2022 @ 2:16 pm
Me too. The first vocal couplet sounds almost exactly like “The Shape I’m In” and Robert Greer’s vocal sounds like a perfect mesh of Richard Manuel and Levon Helm. Great stuff.
July 1, 2022 @ 10:07 am
What a fantastic band.
July 1, 2022 @ 10:44 am
I was gonna post in an earlier article about this band. Glad to see them featured here. They got the total package.
July 1, 2022 @ 7:25 pm
Great band. I thought Miles was working on a solo album several months ago according to some of his Instagram posts, but maybe I was mistaken.
July 2, 2022 @ 4:45 am
Love seeing these cats finally getting their due! I stumbled across their cover of “I’m On Fire” about a year ago, and was instantly hooked. I had the privilege of seeing them open for Mike & The Moonpies here in Music City a few weeks ago, and they killed it! Stoked to hear more from the new record!
July 3, 2022 @ 12:46 pm
The first time seeing these guys @ Rooster Walk 12 in Martinsville, Va. I had a choice, with so many stages to choose from. I’m a taper, so glad I chose the Pine Grove stage. Drove to the Boonerang Festival a few weeks later. I’m a big fan of Firebound Road! I recorded that set too!